The ‘Kalam’ cosmological argument

The Arabic word “kalam” means “speech” and refers to the Islamic tradition of seeking theological principles through dialectic. Adapting the term to the Western mind, perhaps one could say that the “kalam”, among other things, is a kind of natural theology that seeks to deduce the existence of God from natural cosmos.

The cosmological argument “kalam” is rooted in the works of the Christian Byzantine theologian, John Philoponus (490-566 AD), and the Sunni theologian al-Ghazali (1058-1111 AD). Recently, the American philosopher and Christian theologian William Lane Craig, specializing in metaphysics and philosophy of religion, has done important work to adapt that old argument in contemporary philosophy

This argument is an effective case for theism in general, not necessarily the Christian God. It is designed to prove that the universe is intentional and answer the philosophical question that science can answer or atheists:

Mostimportantly, understandthatnothingtheycansustaininadebateunlessit can bephrasedinavalidargument,according totherulesofinference. (In logic, a rule of inference, inference rule, or transformation rule is a logical form consisting of a function which takes premises, analyzes their syntax, and returns a conclusion (or conclusions)Inotherwords,you musthavesomelogicalconclusionsandwhichcanbededuced,giventhatthepremisesaretrue.

Therefore,theideaofdefendinganargumentlikethisis to establishthetruthofthepremisessothattheconclusionistrue.

Analyzingthepremises

1. “everythingthatbeginstoexistrequiresacause.”

This premise is self-evident. There is something that comes out of nowhere. If something has a beginning – or came into existence – then something had to bring it into existence. Some try to define “nothing” as a quantum vacuum, but still are somewhat empty; They have energy and quantum particles. There is no empirical evidence that something has come out of absolute nothingness. The ancient Greeks were right when they said: “From nothing comes nothing.” This is more likely to believe that what comes into existence does not require a cause.

Second,someatheistswhohavementionedthatthe“BigBang”theoryisphysicsspeculativeandcanchangeatanytime. However,thetrendisanabsoluteprincipleemergedfromnothing.We haveaseriesofscientificdiscoveries-solidandrecent- that point in a definite direction:

The theory of general relativity of Einstein and scientific confirmation of their accuracy.

The cosmic microwave background radiation

Predictions abundance of radioactive elements

Predictions abundance of hydrogen / helium

Theories of star formation and their life cycles.

The second law of thermodynamics and its application to nuclear fusion inside stars.

The “red-shifting” of light emitted from galaxies move away from us.

For these reasons, among others, if atheists questioned these findings and the origin of the physical universe from nothing, in a way, they are opposed to scientific progress.